Rainy Dawn
by Calger
Summary: Second response to the RKFF 60-sec vignette challenge : Set during the first scene of the anime when Kaoru attacks Kenshin...Kenshin *looks* clueless, but is he really?


60-second vignette: Rainy Dawn  
by Calger459  
  
This is placed just before and during the scene in episode one where Kaoru challenges Kenshin. One of my favorite moments ^_^ Enjoy!  
  
~*~  
  
Edo...now called Tokyo. I remember that she came from this city so many years ago, when this country was still steeped in the chaos of war. I arrived only a few hours ago during a misty rainfall, and I shiver a little in the chill of this early spring dawn. I walked all night for many reasons, because I did not want to sleep in the rain, because I am completely broke and because...well, because I just felt like walking.  
  
My life lacks purpose and meaning; I wander nameless and alone, a penniless rurouni who lives only to protect those in danger. All to repent, to atone for sins long past...and yet, year by year, despite the lives I've saved, my guilt only grows.  
  
I turn a corner in the misty dawn and try to turn my thoughts to more practical and less depressing things, such as how I will spend the coming day. I'll have to get money from somewhere to eat, but first I have to reorient myself; I haven't been to Edo in many years. Yare yare...  
  
I absently take note of the building I'm walking past, a dojo. A glance upwards reveals a run-down remnant of the past, its wood cracked and tiles missing from the roof. Swordsmanship is not what it once was; the people living here must not be doing well...  
  
Suddenly, I feel a flare of ki behind me accompanied by the running of light feet. I have no idea if the person is coming for me, so I choose to ignore it. That is, until...  
  
"Matte, matte Hitokiri Battousai!"  
  
I freeze in mid-step, the old name causing my blood to run cold. Impossible! How did someone find me here so quickly?! I quell my rising panic and force myself to put on my most innocent and clueless demeanor, the Rurouni mask I've perfected over my years of wandering. I must convince them somehow that they are mistaken...even if it is the truth.  
  
"Oro?" The exclamation is only part act when I turn around to find that my challenger is a young girl...no, I correct myself, a young woman, no more than sixteen or seventeen and armed with only a bokken. She is dressed in a training gi and hakama and stands her ground firmly, gazing at me with angry, confident eyes the color of the summer sky. Who on earth...?  
  
"You're weaker-looking than I thought, Hitokiri Battousai!"  
  
Oro! I barely have time to be insulted before she rushes at me, her bokken aimed at my chest. She has training, that much is obvious, but she must not have paid much attention to my reputation if she thinks she can defeat me with a stick of wood. At the last second I leap up and out of the way of her rather well aimed strike. I purposely jump towards a half-rotted storage bin against the wall; it will be painful for sure, but hopefully this girl could never believe that such a klutz is Battousai...  
  
Itai! This really does hurt; it doesn't take much effort lie there groaning in the shattered wood, a metal bucket on my head. She approaches me slowly, her anger giving way to confusion. She blinks her wide blue eyes at me curiously. "Are you really the hitokiri? I heard you killed three more people last night!"  
  
Ah. Now I understand; this wouldn't be the first time some swordsman has tried to assume my identity for his own purposes. Grief for those innocent lives and anger towards this unknown swordsman rise behind my still clueless exterior. I have to get out of my current situation quickly before more lives are lost. "This unworthy one is just a wander. Besides, do you think I could slay anyone with this?"  
  
My sword... that more than anything must have convinced her that I was Battousai. Loathe as I am to hand over my precious Sakabatou to a stranger, I really have no choice. She seems to think it odd too, because I see suspicion flash across her young face. She must be the trusting type though, because her hesitation is gone in an instant and she takes the hilt, pulling the sword free in a smooth, practiced motion. A swords*woman*? Now that truly is a rarity...  
  
Her suspicion turns to astonishment as she looks at the blade. "W-what is this? The blade's on the wrong side!"  
  
This girl...woman, who is she? Knowledgeable in swords, confident enough to try to take on Battousai by herself, and quite pretty besides. My curiosity only grows as our conversation continues, me informing her of the proper name of my blade and pointing out that I couldn't possibly be the killer, her responding with an amusing lecture (during which I played the Rurouni to the hilt...literally) about how carrying a sword is against the law.   
  
A police whistle blows and her lecture is forgotten as she runs off in pursuit of her enemy, my sword thrown carelessly into the air. I catch it easily in its saya and stare after her suddenly serious, my goofy behavior cast aside. Of course, I was serious to begin with, but I couldn't have known only a few moments before that such a personal situation awaited me in Tokyo. Maybe I shouldn't have tried so hard to fend her off, what if she doesn't have enough skill to defend herself? Why do I suddenly care so much about what happens to her? Of course, the answer to that should be obvious...this girl doesn't know it, but she's brought purpose to my life once again. I must save her from my shadows; it is my duty, my obligation, and...when she looked at me with those fiery, spirited eyes, the pain in my heart suddenly didn't seem quite as sharp as before.  
  
The rain and mist clear as I follow her into the dawn.  
  
Owari  
  
And we all know what happens next ^_^ Hope you liked it, please review!  
Mini glossary:  
Yare yare = oh well, "oh brother", etc.  
Itai = ow, ouch, etc.  
Ki = life spirit, in this case a fighting aura  
Matte = wait  
Saya = sword sheath 


End file.
